Handsaw honey hole: 6 saws and a miter box

In the words of the baseball great Sammy Sosa, “Garage sales have been very, very, good to me.” Or at least that’s what I’d think he’d say if his run of saw luck was as good as mine.

The Craig’s List garage sale ad touted “vintage/antique handsaw collection – make offer for one or all,” sandwiched between the Singer sowing machines and the 1960’s Life Magazines. The words “collection” and “make offer” motivated me to deplete two gallons of gas journeying to/from the southern hinterlands of my fair city. I had to see this marvel for myself.

The seller was an early bird and had already been open for business for a couple of hours when I drove up. So I braced myself to sort through a lot of late-model Disstons missing saw nuts or early model whatevers complete with nasty-assed kinks, rust, quirky filings and jiggered handles along with said wanting for saw nuts.

I sauntered, (if by “sauntered” you take it to mean ‘walked as fast as I could without tipping my eagerness to the seller’, then you’re correct), on over to the barrel containing 20 or so vintage saws. The handwritten sign said ”$3.00 each or four for $9.00.”

I looked for old handles, ones that a touch of lamb’s to the low part of them. I looked for straight sawplates, and for handles with all their nuts. Three minutes was all it took to cherry pick the best of the bunch including a D-8 thumbhole-handled saw in excellent shape. I’ve been manifesting a thumby for a long time now.

The owner had mistakenly thought that the backsaw went with it. That’s ok by me. You see, I’ve had my eye out for a tenon saw to file crosscut as a complement to my rip-filed Spear & Jackson tenon saw.

I lugged the bundle over to my table and paid the man the $20 he asked for even though his “four for $9.00 special” should have yielded a final price of $19.00 for the bunch. Sometimes a man just has to accept that there will be times in life when he gets taken. No sense brooding over it. Just chalk up the $1.00 drubbing to a lesson learned and move on.

As I was strolling to my car, I passed a guy pulling on handyman gloves to sort through the saw barrel. Had he been there even five minutes earlier, he would have beaten me to the picking punch. I smiled inwardly as I walked past him thinking, “Not this day my friend.”

Putting them back to workSo far, I’ve rehabbed the Distton 16” tenon saw. It has quite a heft to it. And I like the 4” under the spine to make deep joinery cuts when the occasion calls for it. And even though it probably dates to the 1950s, the steel is good too.

All that my D-8 thumbhole needs is a good sharpening. But first, I need a fine crosscut saw. So I’m rehabbing the Disston D-8 10 ppi. After that, I’ll rehab the Bishop panel saw. I love panel saws because I have shorter arms and the handles fit so neatly into my palm. Plus, they’re easy to wield on stock secured in my front vise.

After that, I may clean up the No. 7. Before I do that, I’ll want to get a feel for how rare/not rare No. 7s are that date to the 1880s. It’s not in great shape though it has a straight blade. So I’m thinking it doesn’t have much collector value. If that’s the case, it won’t hurt to rehab it and make it a user.

Ah. What a nice problem to have. Such is the joy a handsaw honey hole can bring to a man’s life.

Andy, the Saw gods have smiled favorably upon you. You have a beautiful saw nest complete with a very rich history to match. And you’re right. I feel like I’m set for saws and transitioning to completing more woodworking projects.

Mauricio, estate sales in Colorado definitely have decent handsaw deals from time to time. But in all the sales I’ve attended, I’ve only picked up SB #18 block an SB T11 #5C and a SB #60 planes. The plane pickings here are much thinner than Don’s territory. Hmmm. Sounds like a roadtrip in the making.

I have one of those miter boxes with a fine backsaw. It does excellent work! However, I took it apart and de-rusted it the best I could with the white vinegar treatment. That worked OK, but now some part must be missing because I cant get it to lock into angles other than where the notches are. And I need a clamp to hold the guide together.

I saw a question on the holes at the top of the guides. I believe those can be set to allow the saw to cut only to a predetermined depth, like if you are making a mortise and tenon joint.

Once again, the miter box does excellent work, and will continue to do so even when civilization collapses and the grid goes down.

By the way, the backsaw that goes with that miter box is EXCELLENT.

Has anybody seen an assembly diagram and parts list so that I can restore the tool to full functionality?